I'm so glad that we still have the Enchanted Tiki Room in Disneyland - a classic attraction if ever there was one. I didn't visit it during my last visit, but I forget why. I think it was down for maintenance. Next time for sure! The outdoor courtyard has a fun pre-show, in which guests meet some of the more prominent tiki gods. Maui, Koro, Rongo, Tangaroa, and more. Vintage photos of these deities are not common, but it seems as if Pele, "goddess of fire and volcanoes", show up more than most. She has a certain je nais se quois!
I'm sure you remember these ladies, we've seen them aboard a Matterhorn bobsled, and they also visited Knott's Berry Farm on the same day! Here they are in the Indian Village, next to a nice totem pole, and not far from the old Spirit House.
Major-
ReplyDeleteWe love seeing those 'gals'-! Too bad they didn't strike a pose, a la Pele - who definitely poses like the real trouper that she is-!
Thanks, Major.
Wow! On top of all your other talents, you speak French! Are these garden tikis carved from genuine koa wood, or molded from genuine fiberglass? Somehow, I picture Pele looking different than this... maybe with a numbered jersey and cleated shoes. This is a nice, sharp picture of the goddess.
ReplyDeleteThe gal in the groovy (sock it to me!) dress must have gone to 'charm school'. She's posing like a model in the Sears catalog. Her legs are crossed in a 'scissor step' fashion. Meanwhile, her friend is perfectly practical in every way. The totem figures are giving the ladies the once-over.
Thanks for the "T" word pictures, Major.
Pele's teeth are similar to the Zuni fetish doll in "Trilogy of Terror." I wonder if she would come alive late at night, and torment the park's maintenance crew.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Major!
I'll bet she got teased about her ears before she grew up to be a goddess. That's when she took revenge. It's nice that she calmed down and went to work for Disney.
ReplyDeleteThe rain and thunder scene amazed me as a kid. I was sure the sidewalk would be wet when we exited the attraction.
Thanks, Major
Zach
Major, this is a nicely themed post with the carvings of the various deities and totems (not quite the same as deities).
ReplyDeletePele might be the most familiar of the Polynesian pantheon, famous for her bad temper. Hawaiians today still make offerings to her on an altar on Mauna Kea, and refrain from bringing pork products into her liminal spaces out of respect for her quarrel with the Pig Deity, Kamapua‘a.
Behind the well-dressed ladies we can see them beaver totem who is holding up his cross-hatched tail.
I’m sure that the tiki is carved from 100% Hawaiian fiberglass, but the totems might be real wood.
Thanks for this foray into native symbols, Major.
JG
Nanook, I think (though I’m not positive) this might be the last time we see these gals, sadly. Good things don’t last! Pele definitely has “IT”.
ReplyDeleteJB, I didn’t want to brag about my multilingualism, but sometimes I just can’t hide it. I’m sure Walt Disney only wanted the finest for his park and was determined that those tikis would be carved from endangered koa trees. I wonder if soccer player Pele ever saw his cousin at Disneyland? I stand in “scissor step” fashion all the time, and nobody cares. Hey, I guess Tiki and Totem DO start with “T”!
TokyoMagic!, I was just reading something about the Zuni fetish doll a few days ago, it’s weird how it (of all things) still pops up in my life now and then!
zach, would you really tease somebody who has flames coming out of the top of her head?? I always love a good theatrical thunder storm; if I ever managed to have a tiki bar, I would definitely want it to rain every 10 minutes or so.
JG, well here I am showing my ignorance, I guess I thought that the creatures on totem poles were some sort of spirit (or god?) versions of the animals they represented. I guess I’d better read the Wikipedia entry! Jeez, how many religions are anti-pork? At least four. Thank goodness they aren’t anti-Dorito. I do think the totems are real wood, since (somewhere) I have a photo of a fellow actually carving one in full view of guests.
Both of our gals have that elegant posture. I wonder if they were classmates at the Barbizon School for Models? I had a high school classmate from a big family, and all his many sisters went to the Barbizon school. So much tome elapsed between to oldest and the youngest, that they were taught completely different techniques.
ReplyDeleteTM!, if you've ever seen pictures of producer Dan Curtis, he was a pretty toothy guy himself. I always wondered if there was a bit of gentle poking fun in the design of that doll.
The Tiki Garden Tikis and the original Disneyland Indian Village Totems ( also replicated at WDW, TDL , Fort Wilderness ) were all sculpted in clay then the props were made out of fiberglass. Rolly Crump’s first Disneyland project was creating the tiki garden tikis.
ReplyDeleteThe Indian village totems were modular design .. segments of them could be stacked in different order to create different totems . Varying the paint schemes also created a different looking totem.
The CANADA pavilion also had Disney created fiberglass totems but several years ago they had them removed and had actual Canadian Indian totem carvers create actual wood poles and the process was an ongoing exhibit for EPCOT guests. When completed the auctual wood totems were installed in the Canada pavilion. Actual wood carving of totems were on going exhibits at Disneyland’s Indian Village … but I am unsure if any were completed and installed ..
Rolly Crump said the tiki garden gods were very stressful because it was his real first park project and while researching tikis he discounted they are almost ALL sex fertility gods and thst wouldn’t work for the Disneyland audience so with Walt’s approval they created mostly mythical tiki god backgrounds . Rolly being Rolly however sneaked some naughty things he hid in plain sight to Disneyland guests and are still visible today!!
JG, there you go again! I had to look up "liminal". A couple days ago, it was "Brownian motion", and now this... STOP IT! :-p
ReplyDelete